Risk Analysis and Risk reduction
Thu, 24 July 2008, 10:10 amDon Allen42 posts in thread
Risk Analysis and Risk reduction
Thu, 24 July 2008, 10:10 amHow many risks are you aware of when working in a theatre or even being in a theatre onstage or backstage.
Electrocution
Cuts
Broken Bones
Eye damage
Hearing damage
Community theatres have a responsability under the WA Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984 and WA OSH Regulations 1996 to provide a safe working environment. There may also be additional responsabilities imposed by local councils.
As an individual you have the same responsabilities.
These following links will provide usefull and productive information:
Why productive ? if you maintain your venue and its equipment to a safe standard, you greatly reduce the setup times for shows and remove a lot of the glitches that may affect a performance.
I did not use the work "accident" as I do not beleieve there is such a thing as an accident, anything that goes wrong is as a direct result of someone being incompetent or using unsafe work practices.!
WA Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984 http://www.slp.wa.gov.au/pco/prod/FileStore.nsf/Documents/MRDocument:7379P/$FILE/OccupSftyAndHealthAct1984_05-g0-00.pdf?OpenElement
WA OSH Regulations 1996 http://www.slp.wa.gov.au/pco/prod/FileStore.nsf/Documents/MRDocument:7552P/$FILE/OccupSftyAndHealthRegs1996_06-b0-00.pdf?OpenElement
Risk Assessment (UK) http://www.hse.gov.uk/risk/fivesteps.htm
The backsateg Information Guide - Bath University http://people.bath.ac.uk/su2bc/infoguides/index.shtml
ABTT Theatre Essentials http://www.abtt.org.uk/PDFs/Theatre_Essentials.pdf
Guidelines on the Application of the Health (Public Buildings) Regulations 1992 http://www.population.health.wa.gov.au/environmental/resources/Public%20Buildings%20Guidelines%20Final.pdf
Safety Guidelines For The Entertainment Industry (Australian) http://www.entservices.com.au/pdfs/theatrereqs/AustnEntertainmentIndustrySafetyGuidelines.pdf
In the absence of any formal training for amateur theatre technicians, then self education is the way to go.
I suggest you download any of these documents that allow you to, as it is an excellent start to a library and sometimes web resources tend to dissappear.
I always notify actors who walk under ladders when someone is working above them, that it would be a pity to waste all of their rehearsal time, only to miss out on performing because they have been injured during a tech rehearsal, so keep clear and be aware of their surroundings.
Safety chains
Sun, 27 July 2008, 09:27 pmAfter reading the above, I made a concious effort to check the safety chains at tech rehearsal today, and found one missing. It's so easy to be throwing lights onto the bars, and not fitting the chain...."I might have to move it again. I'll put all the chains on when the lighting is all done."
How many theatres have a log book onsite for both their power fail/emergency exit lighting tests and their RCD tests.
Both these sytems must be tested on a 6 monthly basis, and recorded in a book kept onsite. Powerfail lights should run for 90 minutes. A simple press of the 'test' button on the RCD is all that's required.
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